The Grand 2022 Wollongong UCI Road World Championships Thread, September 18th-25th

[Mayomaniac]

Yeah, I doubt that I'm actually gonna get up of bed before the final hour of the race tomorrow, it's gonna be beer and boxing for me tonight.

 

[Frankschleck]

Well Jungels at 751/1 and Lutsenko at 500/1 seems pretty high

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Cosnefroy.

Is Cosnefroy an outside bet? Haven’t checked but if the odds are high I’d pick.
An outside bet - Powless. Pretty sure he will top ten.

 

[Sciatic]

Mate. You have no idea of the day I had yesterday.

I spent 6 hours travelling from and to work which normally takes 45 min. Including a 7km part I had to walk. I was dead. I needed my night rest. Thanks.

Wow, was there a tram or bus strike?

 

[Sciatic]

I'm going to watch it from the start and then probably fall asleep five or six times before the finish.

I tuned in to the women’s race with a bit more than 100 k to go but with 80k there was so little happening and half the air time was spent showing the ocean so I switched to watch the new episode of faux-LOTR, then back to the race with 50k to go.

 

[Breezy1985]

Van der Poel would be an excellent companion to attack with from far out. He will commit fully and ride 100%. Then Evenepoel can easily drop him in the final lap, considering Evenepoel, unlike Van der Poel, doesn't fade away after a long range attack. It would be a much bigger problem if Pogacar joined him. He's not going to drop Pogacar 1v1 and he's not going to outsprint him either.

PS: Adrie's advice to Mathieu in case Evenepoel attacks: "Don't try to follow him." (click)

If Remco attacks everyone knows the right tactic is to get in behind WvA who will go all out to chase him down

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Wow, was there a tram or bus strike?

No he got stuck in traffic and had to abandon his car. Then he had to walk 7km. And well... we all know what happened after that.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkwQ6EjLdMQ

 

[Salvarani]

Is Cosnefroy an outside bet? Haven’t checked but if the odds are high I’d pick.
An outside bet - Powless. Pretty sure he will top ten.

Maybe not an "outside" bet but he is surely in the tier below the biggest favorites, at least.

Lets throw a couple of others riders into the mix. Why not Honoré? He seems to be in good form, finally, at the end of the season. Fred Wright is another that could be in the top 10, I reckon.

 

[Breezy1985]

I woke up, turned on the tv, and that was right at the time of the first time the front 5 cleared with 25km to go. Perfect timing.

I woke up at 160 to go. Then 100-80. Then 30-10 then 500m and was like how the fk is the dropped rider with the broken elbow sailing home alone

 

[tobydawq]

Van der Poel would be an excellent companion to attack with from far out. He will commit fully and ride 100%. Then Evenepoel can easily drop him in the final lap, considering Evenepoel, unlike Van der Poel, doesn't fade away after a long range attack. It would be a much bigger problem if Pogacar joined him. He's not going to drop Pogacar 1v1 and he's not going to outsprint him either.

PS: Adrie's advice to Mathieu in case Evenepoel attacks: "Don't try to follow him." (click)

Lol, he can't "easily" drop Van der Poel if he is at the height of his powers.

 

[jmdirt]

Usually I'm critical of people who type "why didn't they react/chase?", but in this case it was eye bulging shocking that no one in the front group even flinched. That's the race going up the road. True, it will be really tough to get over her, but that's the title rolling away! I'm sure their legs are spent, but at least stand up and fake it, who knows what can happen?! That being said, AvV probably wins no matter who reacts.

 

[movingtarget]

My brain is thinking WVA and Pogacar but the gut is telling me Bettiol and Matthews.............

 

[DaveJones2]

Depends what you consider outside.

I bet on Lutsenko often. Might be living on the streets next year.

Matthews, Girmay and Laporte are decent chances outside of the big 4-5 imo (of which Remco is decent value).

I guess I'd think of an outside bet as those not in the top 10 or so favourites who tend to be given >30-1 odds by the bookmakers.

 

[tobydawq]

That being said, AvV probably wins no matter who reacts.

I really don't think so.

 

[Sciatic]

Depends what you consider outside.

I bet on Lutsenko often. Might be living on the streets next year.

Ah, so that’s why it’s called an outside bet

 

[BigCoward]

If Remco wins would he be the first person since Hinault to win grand tour, monument and WC in same season?

 

[carolina]

Is the sock height rule still a thing? Van Vleuten's socks were super high on her shins.

 

[search]

Star ratings from the big newspapers (no access to l'Equipe anymore, unfortunately)

Het Nieuwsblad:
* **** van Aert
**** Pogacar, Matthews
*** van der Poel, Girmay, Evenepoel
** Cosnefroy, Alaphilippe, Hayter, van Baarle
* Cort, Bettiol, Wright, Powless, Küng

Gazzetta:
* **** van Aert
**** Pogacar, van der Poel, Matthews
*** Evenepoel, Girmay
** Alaphilippe, van Baarle, bettiol
* Bagioli, Küng, Sagan, Laporte, Hayter, Kristoff

 

[Mayomaniac]

Is the sock height rule still a thing? Van Vleuten's socks were super high on her shins.

I mean, if someone would file a protest you couldn't say that they don't have a point...

 

[Samamba]

I really don't understand how you can give so many stars to Matthews. How is he going to win? Yes if he's good he has a big chance to be top 5 and has a shot at a podium, but winning? How exactly? Matthews is just going to be Matthews and wait till the big guns go and then there's always someone that's going to be faster than him.

 

[yaco]

I rate Matthews in the 8 to 12 range - He could struggle with the steepness of the climb, however he may try to go with 2 laps to go.

 

[Skalman]

Usually I'm critical of people who type "why didn't they react/chase?", but in this case it was eye bulging shocking that no one in the front group even flinched. That's the race going up the road. True, it will be really tough to get over her, but that's the title rolling away! I'm sure their legs are spent, but at least stand up and fake it, who knows what can happen?! That being said, AvV probably wins no matter who reacts.

That's just part of the problem, they shouldn't have put themselves in a situation where this could happen to begin with.
They even had 2 chances to get away but with only one working and the rest wanting a freeride to the finale , well to put it mildly they deserved what they got, more or less gifted the win to AvV. Sorry about Lippert though, she deserved more and the only one that really worked for it.
Mind-boggling .

 

[search]

I have no issues with a high rating for Matthews. He should be able to hang on, and van Aert's sprinting wasn't any good recently. Same as Laporte, I see a good chance for either of them to win if it's a group of ~10 in the end.

I see no chance at all for him to attack on the penultimate lap, though.

 

[Big Doopie]

My brain is thinking WVA and Pogacar but the gut is telling me Bettiol and Matthews.............

what about your heart?

and your loins?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I really don't understand how you can give so many stars to Matthews. How is he going to win? Yes if he's good he has a big chance to be top 5 and has a shot at a podium, but winning? How exactly? Matthews is just going to be Matthews and wait till the big guns go and then there's always someone that's going to be faster than him.

Only makes sense if you're giving stars based on chances of a good result rather than a win. Which is a silly way to give stars, of course.